Incidental Finding of Killian-Jamieson Diverticulum in a Patient with Acute Cerebral Infarction: A Case Report

Abstract

Since dysphagia is a common occurrence after a stroke, assessing the swallowing function in stroke patients is important. Killian-Jamieson diverticulum is a rare esophageal diverticulum that leads to various complications. However, few studies have reported the presence of the Killian-Jamieson diverticulum subsequent to a cerebral infarct. A 66-year-old woman diagnosed with left periventricular white matter infarction complained of dysphagia. A suspected diverticulum observed in the first videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) was thought to be un-related to the patient’s symptoms. However, since the patient continued to complain of dysphagia, computed to-mography was performed to detect any anatomical abnormalities that could cause dysphagia. An approximately 12 mm-sized Killian-Jamieson diverticulum was found on the left side of the esophagus at the C5-6 level. A reversed flow from the diverticulum was observed in the following VFSS. No treatment was administered as the caregiver disagreed with the patient’s aggressive treatment options, which included surgical procedures such as divertic-ulectomy and cricopharyngeal myotomy. Only periodic VFSS follow-up was continued. The association between Killian-Jamieson diverticulum and cerebral infarction remains unclear. This case underlines the importance of con-sidering an esophageal diverticulum in patients with aggravated swallowing difficulties after cerebral infarction.